India's defence minister Rajnath Singh last week launched two indigenously built warships ‘Surat’ and ‘Udaygiri’ at the Mazagon Docks in Mumbai, and said this will “add might” to the Navy’s arsenal and represent India's strategic strength before the world. This is the first time that two indigenously built warships have been launched concurrently, the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL) said.
The ‘Surat’ and ‘Udaygiri’ warships have been designed in-house by the Directorate of Naval Design (DND) and built at the Mumbai-based MDL, a premier ship and submarine building defence public sector undertaking. The launch of a ship marks the commencement of the next phase involving extensive outfitting activities by the shipyards readying these vessels for delivery.
At the event, Singh said building of these two warships leaves no doubt that in the coming days, India will not only cater to its needs in the arena of shipbuilding, but will also take care of the requirements of others. “The two warships will add might to the Indian Navy's arsenal and represent to the world India's strategic strength as well as the power of self-reliance,” he said.
The defence minister added that the indigenous aircraft carrier ‘Vikrant’ is a major milestone in the Navy’s path of “Aatmanirbhar” (self-reliance), and expressed hope that this will increase the country's reach from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. “The commissioning of Vikrant will be a golden moment in India’s defence history,” he said.
As per the Navy, ‘Surat’ is the fourth ship of Project 15B Destroyers, which heralds a significant makeover of the P15A (Kolkata Class) destroyers, and is named after the commercial capital of Gujarat and also the second largest commercial hub of western India after Mumbai. The Project 15B class of ships is the Navy’s next generation stealth guided missile destroyers being built at the MDL.
‘Udaygiri’, named after a mountain range in Andhra Pradesh, is the third ship of Project 17A Frigates. P17A Frigates are warships that are a follow-on class of the P17 (Shivalik Class) Frigates with improved stealth features, advanced weapons, sensors and platform management systems, the Navy said.
Singh said these warships are an embodiment of the government’s unwavering commitment to enhance the country's maritime capability, with focus on achieving self-reliance, at a time when the world is witnessing disruption in global supply chain due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
